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Straits Times : Muslim anti-terror fatwa issued

LONDON - THE leader of a global Muslim movement has issued a fatwa, or religious edict, that he calls an absolute condemnation of terrorism.

Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri, a former Pakistani lawmaker, says the 600-page fatwa bans suicide bombing 'without any excuses, any pretexts, or exceptions.'

Mr Tahir-ul-Qadri has issued similar, shorter decrees, but Tuesday's event in London was publicised by the Quilliam Foundation, a government-funded anti-extremism think tank and drew strong media attention.

The religious scholar is the founder of Minhaj-ul-Quran, a worldwide movement that promotes a nonpolitical, tolerant Islam. The group has hundreds of thousands of followers around the world, most of them in Pakistan or Pakistanis living in other countries. -- AP